10k Steps/Day - Not Enough?

Yesterday's Results

The scale reads: 146 lbs. (Digital scale - whoa oh, it's creeping back up. Darn you, Cici's Pizza Buffet) Goal: 127 lbs.

The awesome pedometer reads: 10731 steps (6047 aerobic steps for 69 minutes), 4.23 mi., 310 calories

Susy made a good point about the horribly, palpable (because you can feel the midsection jiggle) possibility of slacking off on the daily activity level if I set my sights on a weekly goal. I'm banking on that magical gold star system I mentioned in a previous post to keep me in check. September will truly test my mettle with maintaining a weekly goal. There will be more grubbing sessions then and a wedding to top it off!

Man, I'm reading around the interwebs to see if there's a healthy weekly walking-for-weight-loss goal; my 10k steps/day doesn't cut it for long-term weight loss. Why didn't I come across this article when I first started this walking endeavor? The line "If you are already logging 10,000 steps a day and gaining weight or not losing weight, then the key is to add another 2,000 steps per day (and/or eat fewer calories)" struck the conscience the hardest. For the time being, I do not have the discipline to cut calories. I'm more revved up to engage in more physical activity. In addition to that article, I'm seeing more sites recommending trekkers to gradually work up to 12k-15k a day. I'll keep to my walking+dance aerobics combo.

My walking stride seems to be significantly smaller than the average person. One site said 10k steps is equivalent to 5 mi., but for me 10k steps is barely almost 4 mi. Based on third grade math and the 5 mi. figure from the site, a healthy goal would be walking 35 mi./week. Guh, I think counting steps is more feasible with my small, but confident stride.

Bottom line: Initially, keep on attempting the 10k steps/day, but achieve the 70k steps in a week and maintain at least 30 minutes of activity/day to get the gold star for the effort.